Race Against Time
by Numb3rsfan
Summary: While on a week long camping trip in the mountains of California, John Gage and Roy DeSoto both contract a deadly virus from a contaminated waterfall.  Now, they must brave the elements to stay alive and get help.     First 5 chapters were done in 2006
1. A Weird Day

Chapter One

John Gage threw his sodden T-shirt into his locker and hastily grabbed a dry one.  
A three hour rescue at a water theme park left both paramedics dripping wet in the chlorine filled, crystal clear pool water.

By the time John had managed to free the child from the underside of the plastic slide, the young paramedic had already swallowed around five mouthfuls of the pool water, and the roof of his mouth had already started to hurt with a vengeance.

John sighed and grabbed the offered dry towel from his partner who had followed him into the locker room to change into some dry clothes.  
"I can't wait until this shift is over." John said as he hastily dried his hair.  
"Oh, come on Johnny, it wasn't that bad." Roy replied as he got dressed.  
Johnny shot Roy his 'oh yeah right!' look as he placed the towel on the sink counter top and put on his shirt.

"Johnny, you're too paranoid. This is just like any other shift." Roy said.  
"Remember last time? The woman who parachuted into the tree? Or the mere fact that I had to hotwire the squad when you broke the key off in the ignition?" Johnny replied.

Today was another 'weird day' as Johnny put it.  
After the first four runs, Roy was beginning to wonder if Johnny was on to something.

The first weird run of the day turned out to be an old lady who got her hand caught in her toaster while she was cleaning it.  
Another turned out to be a fat chimney sweep who got stuck in the chimney, and once removed almost fell on Johnny as he tumbled down onto the hearth.  
The third one turned out to be a 26 year old female who, while cleaning, managed to get her head stuck in her couch!  
The fourth one was the pool rescue. A ten year old boy who had swum under the plastic slide had managed to get his thin shirt caught on a screw.

"Believe it or not Johnny. This shift ends in a few more hours." Roy replied, glancing at his watch.

Johnny turned to Roy as he buttoned up his dry uniform.  
"We still on for tomorrow?" Johnny asked.  
Roy nodded his head at his partner.  
"Yep. Week long camping trip up in the mountains sounds like fun. Thanks for inviting me." Roy said.  
"Believe it or not, I hate camping by myself. It's to lonely up there." Johnny replied.  
"Then why are you camping up there all the time?" Roy asked, genuinely interested.  
"To think," replied Johnny with a slight smile on his face.

Roy just shook his head at that. Sometimes his partner could be so weird!  
Just then the tones went off, sending them running for the Squad.

"Squad 51. Child trapped in toybox. 1243 NW 31 St. One two four three NW 31 St. Cross street Harmony. Time out 3:23"

Captain Stanley finished scribbling down the address on the response slip before grabbing the mic and acknowledging the request.  
Turning he handed the paper to Roy, who in turn passed it along to Johnny.

As they roared out of the bay, Johnny did a double take at the address.  
"Roy, you recognize the address?" Johnny asked.  
Roy shook his head but never took his eyes off the road.  
"No, should I?" Roy asked.  
Johnny snorted at his best friend's remark before speaking.  
"Remember the ten year old kid who locked himself in his mother's washer one week ago?"  
"That the one where we had to take the washer apart?" Roy asked.  
Johnny nodded his head.  
"That's the one." He replied.  
"First a washer, and now a toybox. Wonder what he'll think of next." Roy said as they turned on to Harmony.  
"Hopefully nothing." Johnny replied.  
Roy shot Johnny a look and said, "How much are you willing to bet?"  
Johnny opened his mouth to reply, but was saved from that as Roy pulled up to the house.

Outside was a grey haired woman wringing her hands together as she watched them step out of the squad and grab the equipment.

"It's Joey! He's really stuck this time." She said as she led them out back.  
At first Roy and Johnny were confused when she stopped at the base of a tree.  
"He's up there." She said, pointing.

Roy and Johnny looked up to see a toybox wedged tightly in the tree.  
For a moment they just stared, their eyes unbelieving.  
"Aren't you going to do anything?" The woman asked worriedly.  
Roy turned to the distraught woman and tried to reassure her.  
"While I'm calling for the engine, Johnny will go up and check on your son."  
Johnny shot his partner the 'oh thanks for volunteering me' look before following Roy back to the squad for the ropes and other gear.


	2. A Strange Rescue

Chapter Two

Johnny checked the rope that was slung across his chest one more time before jumping up to catch hold of the lowest tree branch.

Grumbling to himself, Johnny hoisted himself up onto the low branch and then started to proceed up to the wedged in toybox.  
He moved slowly since he didn't know how much weight the small, slender tree branches could hold.

Once he was close enough he shouted, "Joey, are you in there?"  
A muffled, "Yeah." Was his response.  
Sighing, Johnny finally maneuvered himself so that he was right beside the toybox, which was, from closer inspection, wedged upside down in the tree!  
"Joey, this is the Fire Department. Don't panic, we will get you down." John said to the child inside.  
"Ok." Joey responded.

Licking his lips, Johnny turned to Roy who was now walking back into the backyard.  
"Hey Roy! The kid's up here alright. I figure I'm going to need you and a pair of pliers up here." Johnny said.  
Roy nodded and replied, "How's the kid sound?"  
"Scared but other than that he seems ok." Johnny replied.

Both paramedics looked up at the sound of the approaching siren.  
A couple of minutes saw Captain Stanley and his group, along with Policeman Vince Howard, enter the backyard with a ladder in hand.

"Cap. We have a boy trapped in a toybox that's wedged in this tree." Roy explained.  
Captain Stanley looked at the tree and shook his head.  
"Kids these days can't do anything small, can they?" He asked.  
Roy chuckled and thought of his own two kids at home.

Stepping aside, Captain Stanley watched as his men set up the long ladder and held it steady as Roy DeSoto climbed up to help his partner.

The first thing Roy did was hand Johnny the pliers.  
Johnny took them and broke off the small lock that held the toybox lid down.  
The lock, along with the pliers took the short fall down to earth, with only Johnny's "look out below." To warn the others on the ground as to what was falling down.

Carefully Johnny and Roy both grabbed hold of the edges and lifted the box off of the boy.  
The child immediately latched on to John and held on tight to the paramedic.  
John let out a small 'oof' as the boy grabbed hold of him.

After scooting the toybox out of the way, Johnny proceeded to check the boy over for injuries.

Joey was anything but cooperative when he wouldn't let go of Johnny so that Roy could attach him to the line.

"NO!" Joey shrieked as Roy tried once again to secure the line around the boy.  
Sighing in exasperation Roy handed the line to Johnny, who blushed sheepishly as he took it.

The boy allowed Johnny to tie the line to him and lower him down into the waiting arms of Chet Kelly, who stood at the base of the tree.

Chet however had a hard time handling the boy when he started to squirm around.  
Firmly deciding he was not letting go of the boy, Chet clamped his fingers down real tight and just held on.

"That kid sure likes you." Roy said from his spot in the tree.  
Johnny shot him his look before shaking his head.  
"What'cha bet that the second you're down… "Roy began.  
Johnny held up a hand to stop his partner from speaking the obvious.  
"Don't say it Roy." Johnny said.  
Roy chuckled as held onto the rope and Johnny climbed down from the tree.

Sure enough, the minute Johnny's feet hit the ground the boy jumped out of Chet's arms and latched himself to Johnny's waist.  
Johnny stumbled back a little but leaned down and picked the boy up.  
Joey then wrapped his arms lovingly around Johnny's neck and laid his head on the younger paramedic's shoulder.

Johnny looked helplessly at Joey's mother who had her apologetic look on her face.  
"How touching, if only you could get one of those nurses to do that!" Chet joked as he joined the others.

Johnny glared at his nemesis and turned around to see Roy trying to hide the smile on his face.  
"You really do have a way with kids." Roy said to his partner who gave him his wounded look as they made their way back to the squad.

Once there, Johnny sat the boy down on the runner of the squad and gave him a quick paramedic examination.

Not finding anything wrong, Johnny suggested that Mrs. Cramer should take her son to his own doctor just to be on the safe side.

Mrs. Cramer agreed and watched as Johnny settled the boy on his feet.  
"Now Joey, what were you doing up there in the first place?" Johnny asked.  
"Waiting for you." Joey replied.  
"You mean that you set this whole thing up just to get us out here?" Johnny asked, disbelieving.  
Joey nodded his head and reached out to latch on to the paramedic again, but Johnny stopped him.  
"Joey, let me tell you something. Each time you get us out here, then you're taking us away from the people who really need our help." Johnny said.  
Joey lowered his gaze and backed away from the junior paramedic.  
"I'm not mad at you, but I would like you to think about this." Johnny requested in the best loving tone he had.  
Joey nodded his head before running back into the house and shutting the door.

Johnny shrugged and got inside the squad.  
"Thanks again." Mrs. Cramer said to them as Roy put the squad into gear.  
Johnny nodded his head and said, "No problem."  
Roy also nodded his head and then pulled away from the house.

Johnny sighed and fingered his helmet as Roy took him back to the station.  
The sunny, warm weather did little for Johnny's mood.  
"Poor kid. All he wanted was attention." Johnny said to his partner.  
"Well, he got it!" Roy replied.

Reaching behind him, Johnny hooked his black helmet onto the small hook as Roy pulled in to the lot of Station 51.  
Wheeling the squad around, he placed it in reverse and backed carefully into the bay.

Seeing the B-Shift paramedics come out of the dayroom, Johnny checked his watch and saw that their shift had already ended seven minutes ago.

"Finally!" John said as he joined his partner in the day room for one final cup of mildly warm coffee.

"Rough shift?" Captain Hookrader asked them from his seat on the leather couch.  
"You could say that, Cap." Johnny replied as he downed the coffee in one gulp.

Placing his cup in the sink, Johnny said, "So Roy, what time am I pickin' you up tomorrow?"  
Swallowing the last of his coffee, Roy also set his cup in the sink before replying to his partner's question.

"Joanne said I needed to be gone before 9:30 or I would be stuck with her honey-do list again." Roy replied.  
Johnny chuckled at that.  
All last Saturday he had helped Roy with Joanne's mile long honey-do list and they had barely even scratched the surface!

"I'll pick you up at 9:00." Johnny said before he left and headed to the locker room to change.


	3. Poisoned

Chapter Three

The next morning Johnny pulled into the DeSoto household driveway exactly at 9:00.  
Seconds after he had placed the Rover in park, Roy came out with a backpack and duffel bag.

Smiling, Johnny got out and took the bags from his partner who walked around the rover and got in on the passenger side.

Noting Roy's odd expression, Johnny didn't waste any time in practically flinging Roy's bags into the back and hopping back in to the driver's seat.

"What's wrong with you, buddy?" Johnny asked as he shifted the rover into reverse and backed out of the driveway.  
"Joanne's up to her antics again. She said she couldn't wait to get rid of me." Roy replied.  
"I'm sure she didn't mean it quite that way." Johnny replied as he placed the rover gear shift at D and placed his foot on the accelerator.  
"I guess so. Lately I havn't been too sure of her actions. Always sneaking around, keepin' the kids at a friends or their grandmother's." Roy said more for his benefit than for Johnny's.  
"I wouldn't read too much into it." Johnny replied.  
"Why do you say that?" Roy asked with a hint of anger in his voice.  
"The only time Joanne can't wait to get rid of you is when she's doing something special for you." Johnny replied pointedly.

Roy thought about Johnny's words and after a brief pause, nodded his head.  
"Your right. What was I thinking?" Roy asked himself.  
Chuckling, Johnny pulled onto the highway that would take them to the mountains.

"Johnny…can we…can we…s….stop?" Roy gasped out as he leaned heavily against a warm boulder.  
Johnny, who carried his backpack and the tent, not to mention Roy's duffel bag, turned and faced his winded partner.  
Roy looked at Johnny with a hint of envy. The dark haired man hadn't even broken a sweat and wasn't breathing hard at all!

"We stopped ten minutes ago." Johnny pointed out.  
"I need…to stop…again!" Roy shot back.  
"The sun's going down. We need to make it to our campsite before dark." Johnny said.  
"Why? You don't… want to wander around… in the dark?" Roy asked.  
"At the risk of killing myself? I think not!" Johnny shot back.

Straightening, Johnny pointed off to a stand of trees.  
"There's a small river there were we can rest for a few minutes." He said.  
Smiling Roy nodded and followed his friend.

The loud rumble of the waterfall brought a smile to Roy's lips as they exited the stand of trees and found themselves on a small shore facing a mile long river with a gorgeous waterfall.

"The way you've been attacking your water bottle, I'd say it's on E, so why don't you go and fill it up?" Johnny said as he motioned towards the water fall on his left.  
Nodding, Roy unscrewed the cap on his canteen before climbing up on the rocks.  
Breathing in the fresh water scent, Roy placed the canteen in the water fall and waited for it to fill.

When the canteen overflowed and the excess water hit his hand Roy removed the canteen, he screwed the cap back on and climbed back down to find his partner refilling his own canteen.

"Who's been attacking his canteen?" Roy asked as he stood behind his partner, smiling at the fact that he had made the younger man jump!

"Roy! Warn a guy before you sneak up on him, will ya?" Johnny replied a little angrily.  
Chuckling, Roy wiped his damp hand off on his pant leg and waited while Johnny stood and grabbed his baggage.

"If you must know, I didn't want to drink lukewarm water tonight, since the opportunity to get nice, cool, refreshing water arose, I decided to use it!" Johnny replied.  
Roy held up his hands when it seemed that Johnny was about to continue.  
"Alright, alright! I get the point!" Roy said.  
Chuckling, Johnny pointed to a ridge a little ways away.  
"There's the campsite. We can reach it in fifteen minutes if we leave now." Johnny said.  
Roy gestured for Johnny to take the lead as he shouldered his own pack.  
"Lead the way!" Roy said.

As they moved on, Roy grabbed his canteen and took a swig of the cool water.  
Swallowing, Roy grimaced at the taste.  
It didn't taste quite like water it tasted like water but with a hint of oil or something else.  
Thinking it was just his imagination; Roy shook his head, and continued to follow his friend towards their campsite.


	4. Becoming Sick

Chapter Four

Roy dropped his pack on the ground and flopped down next to it while Johnny gracefully laid Roy's duffel bag, the tent and his own bag on the ground a few feet away.

As Johnny prepared to put the tent up, he turned to see his partner take a good swig out of his canteen.  
"Oh come on Roy, you can't be tired!" Johnny said.  
"Can… and… am!" Roy gasped in reply.  
"Then I guess you getting the fire started is out of the question, huh?" Johnny asked, semi jokingly.  
Roy shot his partner an annoyed look before lying down on the ground.

Chuckling, Johnny proceeded to get the tent up.  
That task took all of eight minutes before Johnny squatted down next to the blackened spot of ground that had housed many a campfire before they had arrived.  
Gathering sticks and other such flammable things, Johnny bundled them together and laid them one on top of the other.

Reaching into his pocket he withdrew a small red and white matchbox filled with matches.  
Flipping open the cardboard cover, John removed one match before replacing the cover.  
Holding the match and the box away from him, John quickly struck the match and placed the smallish match on the dry embers.

Almost immediately the embers caught fire and soon the accomplished firefighter/paramedic had a good fire going.

Turning, Johnny opened his mouth to speak to Roy, but closed it when he saw that his friend was staring at nothing.  
What alarmed Johnny more wasn't the fact that Roy wasn't paying attention to anything; it was the fact that he looked a little green.

"Roy, are you alright?" Johnny asked worriedly.  
In answer, Roy got up and rushed into the nearby bushes to promptly lose his stomach contents.

Johnny had followed close enough behind Roy to have to fight to hold his own stomach when the sound of Roy's retching was evident.

"Roy, if you're getting sick, we can always go back." Johnny suggested.  
A couple of deep breaths later, Roy replied, "No, no I'm ok…I think."  
Johnny, not trusting his friend's judgment, came to Roy and felt his head.  
'_He's got a slight temperature.' _Johnny thought to himself as Roy shakily rose to his feet.

"Come on Pally." Johnny said as he led Roy back to the campsite.  
By the time they returned to the time Johnny had dinner ready, the sun had gone down and a crescent moon had risen.

Grabbing his canteen, Johnny promptly opened it and took a healthy swig of the vile water.  
Grimacing, Johnny forced himself to swallow it before glancing at his canteen.  
Taking a small whiff of the water, Johnny wrinkled his nose.  
Whatever it was, it sure as heck wasn't water!

Getting an idea, Johnny picked up Roy's canteen, took the lid off and also smelled it.  
'_The same.'_ Johnny thought as he screwed the cap back on.

A small stomach cramp made its way through Johnny's gut and he found himself running for the bushes, just as Roy had done a few hours earlier.

Throwing himself on the ground, Johnny promptly brought up the foul water and whatever had been in his stomach at the time.  
Once he was finished, John crawled away and headed back for camp.

Flopping down weakly on his sleeping bag, Johnny looked up at the stars and thought, '_Great. What are we going to do now? We don't have any good drinking water, we're miles away from the Rover and or any Ranger station, not that Roy could even make it back to civilization, and now I'm going to become as sick, or sicker than Roy!'_  
Sighing, Johnny knew that they were in deep, deep trouble


	5. Going Back

Chapter Five

The early morning sunshine woke Roy from a more or less restful sleep.  
Slowly opening his eyes, Roy discovered that he was burning up, so he sat up and looked around.

The fire's ashes were still smoking, but still far enough away that the heat shouldn't have affected him.  
Glancing to his right he saw a canteen lying on the ground over near the bushes.  
Rising to his feet Roy went over and picked up the canteen.

After unscrewing the lid, Roy raised it to his lips and had been about to drink some of the water when a weak voice said, "No Roy, don't drink it."  
The urgency in the voice made Roy put the canteen down and look at his partner, who looked to be overheated as well.

"Johnny, you and I both need water." Roy replied as he stumbled over to his friend.  
When he was just a few scant inches away, he stumbled.  
Johnny reached out, caught and steadied his friend.  
"You don't understand Roy. What's in that canteen isn't water, it's mostly oil or something." Johnny said as continued to steady his friend.  
"Are you sure?" Roy asked.  
At Johnny's announcement Roy recalled the bad taste of the water at the waterfall.  
He had forgotten all about it, but now it came back, fresh and clear in his mind.  
"I'm sure." Johnny replied as he laid his head back down.

Sighing, Roy tried to piece together a plan.  
"We need to get back to the Rover to get some help." He mused.  
"I'm open to any suggestions." Johnny shot back tiredly, raising his left arm to block out the sun from his face.  
"The only way I can think of is to walk back." Roy said.  
Johnny fixed Roy with his look before replying, "In your present condition, you wouldn't make it two miles before collapsing."  
"Look who's talking Junior!" Roy shot back.

Taking a moment to think about Roy's plan, Johnny sighed, knowing that his best friend was right.  
They had to put their health aside and try to make it back to the Rover before they were too weak to even stand.

"The river we stopped at about halfway up, that water was ok, wasn't it?" Roy asked, looking back at his partner as he struggled to sit up.  
"Yeah, but it's got to be ten to twelve miles away." Johnny shot back.  
"Johnny do you want to stay up here and die or do you want to try and get back?" Roy asked, point blank.  
His friend glared at him as he mulled over the question in silence.  
Deep down Johnny knew that Roy was right, but Johnny always hated to admit when he was wrong.  
"I don't want to die, Roy. But the prospect of walking twenty miles in our present condition doesn't hold much appeal for me." Johnny replied.  
"It doesn't hold much appeal for me either, partner. But it has to be done." Roy said.

Sighing, Johnny gave up and rose to his feet.  
"Alright, let's go." He said as he started to head back down.  
Roy followed closely behind him with both of their canteens clutched tightly in his hands.


	6. Snakebite

Chapter Six

Johnny squinted in the light of the sun which was bouncing off the boulders, making everything harder to see.

He and his partner Roy had been walked for three hours straight. Both were trying to get to the Rover and both were as sick as a dog, having drunk some contaminated water the previous day.

"J...J...Johnny?"

"Yeah?" Johnny replied as he looked at his partner.

Roy looked for all intents and purposes like he was ready to collapse and call it quits. He was deathly pale with sweaty skin, not to mention the fact that his arms and legs were trembling, possibly due to the amount of vomiting Roy had been doing for the past two hours.

"H...How f...far do you...think we've...gone?" Roy gasped out through parched lips.

Johnny raised a hand and wiped the sweat from his brow while he pondered the question presented to him.

How far had they gone? It had seemed at least a thousand miles but realistically it couldn't have been there far; not in a million years.

"About four miles I'd say. The poisoned water should be about another half mile away, while the other river is still about six miles away." Johnny replied.

He watched his friend's shoulders sink. The disappointment was obvious even to Johnny.

The question was; would they be able to make it that far in their condition? If not, what would they do? What _could_ they do?

Firing off a flare wouldn't work; from their present location there was no overhead traffic whatsoever, and their wouldn't be for miles and miles.

"Roy...don't move!"

Johnny had been about to walk in front of Roy, to help him along when he looked down to see a diamond back rattlesnake coiled on a rock near Roy's exposed ankle.

"What...what is it?" Roy asked, having to force himself to remain perfectly still; the tone in Johnny's voice told him to do so.

"Snake..." was all Johnny could whisper in reply.

He had seen many a snake in his day; had even caught several but still the poisonous ones always freaked him out to no end.

"Do something!" Roy said through gritted teeth as his eyes searched for a snake that he could not see.

"Okay, just don't move; take slow breaths and just...don't move." Johnny replied.

Moving slowly he got around behind the snake.

Bending down his left hand coiled around a thin stick. Grasping it tight, Johnny took aim and quickly wapped at the snake's head, managing to trap it but not before it struck out and bit in to Roy's leg.

Roy fell to the ground clutching at his leg while Johnny knelt down next to the snake.

He took out his handy knife and cut off the head of the snake before burying it and tossing away the still wriggling body.

That done he sheathed the knife before going to Roy's side.

Roy was still clutching at his leg in obvious pain.

"I'm sorry Roy...didn't mean for that to happen." Johnny replied as he took the injured leg in his hands.

Pushing up the pant leg, Johnny got his first good look at the bite. Two pin prick size holes, reddened area around the holes and swelling just beginning to set in.

"How...how bad's it look?" Roy asked, watching his friend and partner examine his leg.

Normally Johnny would have made a jokingly simple reply but he and Roy were partners, and they each knew not to do that to the other; truth was the best policy to them.

"It doesn't look good. There's no way you can walk on it now; least not without spreading the poison faster. Have to continue but there's no way I can leave you by yourself." Johnny replied.

He removed his belt and wrapped it around Roy's leg; tightening it as much as he could to slow the blood flow and help prevent the spread of the poison.

What could he do? He couldn't leave Roy, not after the bite, but one of them had to go get help.

Sighing, Johnny looked all around them, hoping against hope to see another person, but sadly all he saw were rocks and trees.


	7. Bad to Worse

Chapter Seven

Four hours had passed since the bite. Johnny had done his best in trying to care for Roy by sucking out the poison and using his knife to bleed the wound a little, but it was obvious that Roy was in need of more assistance than Johnny could offer.

"J...Johnny..." Roy whispered, forcing the younger man to look at him.

Roy looked a million times worse than he had several hours ago. He was now deathly pale, even more so than he had looked before. His lips were white as a sheet and his eyes seemed dull. His body, while still racked with a fever was no longer sweating, suggesting that Roy was already dehydrated.

"Y...you have to go. Go now..." Roy whispered, weakly gesturing down the trail.

The 'trail' was a small, bark course that ran down the slope past the contaminated river. It was what they had followed up to the campsite, and it was the landmark that led back to the Rover.

"I can't Roy...I can't leave you like this." Johnny replied with a shake of his head, to which Roy groaned, half in pain and half in annoyance.

"Johnny...n...neither of us are...gonna make it if...if you don't...don't go. So go...it's gonna...gonna be alright. I'll...hang on...till you get...get back." Roy replied.

Johnny knew it was very unlikely that Roy would be living, let alone conscious by the time he returned.

He had a feeling Roy knew this as well and that little line was just a lasting 'farewell, it's been good to know you' type speech.

Feeling the tears welling up in his eyes, Johnny nodded his head before biting his tongue, knowing the physical pain will stop him from crying at that particular moment.

"Just hang in there partner, I'll be back soon...I promise." Johnny said as he patted Roy's shoulder for a brief moment.

Rising, Johnny turned and headed down the trail, stopping several times to look back at Roy, hoping against hope that he would call him back, but no such request came, so Johnny continued on his way.

Once out of sight, he picked up his pace, breaking in to a jog.

Even though he himself was sick, he knew he wasn't as bad off as Roy, not by a long shot, and as long as he could keep moving, he was going to get help for Roy.

Off in the distance dark thunderclouds started to roll in, covering the once blue sky in semi darkness.

Johnny looked at them, knowing what was going to be in store for him and for Roy in the hours to come.

__

An hour later and the storm was just beginning. The wind had picked up significantly while every now and then you saw a quick flash followed by a rumble of thunder.

Roy had done his best to protect himself from the oncoming onslaught of rain by dragging himself in to the entrance of a nearby cave, but once in the mouth of the cave his strength finally gave out and he collapsed.

Roy began to think back on his family while his mind began to play back all the arguments and hurt feelings like a bad movie.

"I...I...I'm sorry Joanne...I didn't mean...all those things...I said..." Roy whispered to himself, not knowing that he was becoming delirious.

While his fevered and poisoned body was getting worse, outside it had just started to rain.

__

When the rain had started, Johnny had kept moving, keeping off the rocks and boulders when they became slippery but now that he was beside the poisoned river in a downpour, it was difficult to move on.

Visibility was next to nothing, the wind was incredible and there was the sense that it was soon to start hailing.

~_That's all I need at this point!~_ Johnny thought to himself as he wrapped his arms around his body, in an effort to keep himself warm.

An hour ago his fevered body was wanting some ice to keep him cool, now he was wishing it would stop so he could get warm and dry.

A sudden gust of wind tipped Johnny off balance, so much so that he fell, rolling down a small incline into the now wildly rushing water of the contaminated river.

When he hit the water Johnny's body came alive. He swam with all his might trying to get back to shore but the water just kept pushing him farther and farther away as he picked up speed.

_~Oh man...what am I going to do now? I am so dead!~_ He thought to himself as he fought to keep his head above the water.


	8. Premonition

Author's Note: Before I begin this chapter, some of you may notice there are no breaks in the previous chapter; it's all strung together even though there are two places where breaks should be. In the original version I did place breaks in, but for some reason when I uploaded the file to the breaks were removed. Also I wish to thank those on E! Storyfinders for giving me the kick in the butt that I needed to return to this fic. If it weren't for them I probably would have never returned to this fic.

Chapter 8

_~Rain...why is it always rain?~_ Engineer Mike Stoker wondered as he looked through the windows of the day room at Station 51. They were all there; Mike, Captain Stanley, Marco and Chet; everyone except Johnny and Roy who had decided to take a small vacation, leaving Brice and Bellingham to cover for them.

Sighing, Mike turned away from the window and wandered over to the small television that had grabbed the attention of all the men in the room.

It was a commercial for hand soap with a scantily clad woman that was the object of interest for Chet, who it seemed kept getting closer and closer to the tv, with Captain Stanley pulling him back over and over.

Next was a commercial for _The Three Stooges_ before the local news logo appeared on the screen with the words 'Breaking News' flashing under it.

The camera then panned to a blond news reporter in a blue velvet dress. It was clear she had on too much makeup that made her eyes and cheeks more than pop. Her lips were bright red, brighter than blood, and her pale hands clasped several papers.

"Hello I am Megan Williams. I would like to bring your attention to a news story that we just received in our studios moments ago. Apparently a young man is trapped in a storm drain, with a local firefighter and paramedic team trying to get him out right now. Our news reporter Gary Evans is at the location, and we go there live. Gary can you hear us?"

The camera then changed to a storm drain where several firefighters from station 116 were tying off ropes to their firetruck, while a pale hand was clutching the hands of the 116 paramedic team members.

Slowly the camera panned out and around to focus on the channel 11 news reporter who was wearing a blue poncho and holding a microphone.

"Yes Megan I can hear you. As you can see a young gentlemen is pinned against that drain, in grave danger of being swept away. Station 116's firefighters and paramedic unit have been working for fifteen minutes trying to free the man but so far no luck!" The reporter replied in to his microphone.

As the camera panned back to the rescue attempt, something caught Hank Stanley's eye.

Leaning forward he watched the scene more closely for several minutes before he dropped the sandwich on the ground.

"Oh my god...Johnny!" He proclaimed.

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KABOOM!

The loud crack of thunder roused Captain Hank Stanley from his sleep.

He quickly glanced around for several moments, wondering what was going on. After realizing that he was safe and sound, at home in his nice warm bed, he settled down somewhat.

_~Some dream!~_ He thought to himself as he pushed the covers back and rose up from the bed.

Grabbing his robe he wrapped it around himself before exiting the bedroom, walking down the hall and padding in to his kitchen.

Once there he fixed himself a cup of hot chocolate and took it to the living room where he sat down in his favorite chair.

It was a dream...wasn't it? It had seemed so real though; so very real.

He knew that Johnny and Roy were out on a camping trip, and he knew now that it was raining outside.

_~Just like in my dream.~_ He told himself.

While he sat there in his chair thinking over his dream he began to see an image.

He saw Roy and Johnny; both seriously ill and both struggling to get to John's Rover. He then saw Roy getting bit by a rattlesnake and then John being swept away in a strong current before drowning in said current.

The images were so vivid; so real that Hank couldn't get them out of his mind. Were they just his imagination, his underlying worry for his paramedic team or was it something else?

Grabbing his phone he dialed a number before putting the receiver to his ear.

One ring...two rings...three rings before someone picked up.

"Hello?" A tired sounding voice asked.

"Mike it's Captain Stanley. Listen call Chet and I'll get a hold of Marco. Johnny and Roy are in trouble and we are going to find them."


	9. Changes

Chapter Nine

When they all had arrived, Hank passed a warm cup of coffee to each of his men who now stood in front of a map of the wilderness area.

On the coffee table behind them were walkie talkie's, quite similar to their HT units at Station 51, as well as rope, flashlights, blankets and first aid kits.

"Cap, what makes you think John and Roy are in trouble?" Marco asked as he turned from the map to face his Captain's worried face.

"I can't explain it to you Marco, I just have a feeling that they are." Cap replied.

"And we're supposed to find them?" Marco asked, while Chet commented, "In that?"

He pointed to the outside window where it was raining cats and dogs outside.

Every few seconds there was a bright flash before a very loud clap of thunder could be heard; loud enough that they all could literally feel it rattling their very bones.

"Yes Chet, in that. If you don't like it, come Thursday you can have latrine duty for the next six months." Cap warned with that special, annoyed at Chet tone of voice that everyone recognized.

Gulping, Chet smiled and nodded his head before grabbing up one of everything that was on the coffee table and placing it in a satchel that Hank's wife had provided for each of them.

"Well uh...what are we waiting for?" Chet asked.

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Johnny coughed and sputtered as he fought to keep his head above water. It was hard work considering everything in the river seemed content enough to try to pull him under.

_~When I get out of this I am never going to leave my home again...in fact I may never even leave my bed! Oh bed, bed, bed!~_ He thought to himself, longingly imagining himself in his nice soft bed, having the ability to just stay there and sleep for as long as he wanted.

A stinging pain in his head brought Johnny back to reality as a tree limb smacked the side of his face. Thankfully the tree limb hadn't been connected to the tree or that could have really been lights out for Johnny!

A little voice told him to keep swimming, at first it gave him comfort and hope but it quickly turned in to annoyance when it looked like he wasn't making any progress at all.

_{Come on Johnny, just keep swimming!}_ The voice reiterated again.

_~I AM SWIMMING!~_ Johnny yelled back at the voice in his mind.

Suddenly his entire body slammed in to another tree limb that was in fact connected to a tree, but this tree was connected to the shore, and the limb that had stopped Johnny's forward motion was a limb that had been draped out over the river, like a helping hand.

Numbly Johnny grasped the limb already knowing he didn't have the strength to pull himself out of the water or even use the limb to pull himself to the shore.

_~Just...just let me rest here a minute...~_ Johnny thought to himself as his eyes slipped closed.

Thankfully even when his arms relaxed and he lost consciousness, the tree limb seemed to keep a firm hold on him and also managed to keep his head above water so he didn't drown.

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"_Daddy...Daddy where are you?"_

"Jenn?"

"_Daddy, I can't find you, where are you?"_

"Jenn...I'm here...right here."

"_Daddy please! Where are you? I...DADDY!"_

The scream of his little Jennifer forced Roy in to wakefulness.

As his tired eyes scanned the area all he saw was darkness and the occasional flash of light which his tired brain told him was lightning.

Slowly his ears picked up the sound of rain and thunder but that was it.

As his body woke up Roy began to feel pain; and lots of it.

There was pain everywhere especially his insides and his leg; both were vying for dominance and neither were winning at the moment.

Roy's addled mind began to replay the day's events. Water, poison, sickness...snakebite...JOHNNY!

Whipping his head around Roy looked everywhere for his partner but didn't see him anywhere.

Forcing himself to sit up, even though his body protested, Roy licked dry lips before croaking out, "JOHNNY? JOHNNY WHERE ARE YOU?"

Not receiving a reply, Roy gritted his teeth and forced himself to his feet, nearly falling over twice in his efforts, but once he was up he told himself that he was going to stay that way.

"JOHNNY?" Roy yelled again. Again he received no response, so he stepped out of the dry cave, in to the cold night rain.

Wrapping his arms around himself Roy half trudged, half limped away in search of his partner and friend, his addled mind not remembering the fact that Johnny had told him to stay still.


End file.
